Mermaid Themed Party Food Ideas

Mermaid Picnic Table

To set up our picnic area for our mermaid themed birthday party, we started with the table.  It was a party table that has legs that screw on.  Instead of screwing the legs on, we used a couple of crates underneath it to create the perfect low picnic table, which was such a fun idea for the kids to sit it.

Around the table we set up some picnic blankets to sit on and lots of cozy cushions for lounging.  On the table I used a pretty aqua table cloth, and then we layered all things mermaid.  We found a little driftwood on the beach and then added some shells.  We also used some rustic rope.  For a centerpiece we used some aqua candle holders with some pretty beach pebbles inside.  This was the perfect centerpiece for our mermaid birthday party theme.

The rustic signs that we used for all the party activities were made from some old wood.  We used chalk to write the words on them, and then went over it with white craft paint.  These were such a great idea to add a little rustic charm to our mermaid party.

Over the table we made a cluster of pretty paper lanterns and hung them from the over head tree.  These looked so gorgeous over the table, and were a nice alternative to balloons, with no danger of popping, or need to pick them up at the last moment at the party store.

Mermaid Picnic Lunch

Individual Lunch Boxes

One of my favorite mermaid party ideas was our individual picnic boxes.  For our picnic lunch, we made the cutest individual mermaid lunch boxes out of white gable boxes.

Everyone’s lunch box had an aqua napkin and a cute wood spoon from the dollar store.  We used the end of a pencil to stamp some aqua dots on the spoon ends to create the perfect polka dot wooden spoons.  If you didn’t want to stamp the ends, more of the mermaid washi tape on the spoon handles would be cute too.  Love is in the details.  We started with the white boxes and added some mermaid details with pretty mermaid washi tape, and some DIY tassels.

For drinks we used our refillable glass bottles and made lemonade for everyone.  We put them on ice and guests could help themselves.

nside our individual picnic boxes were our mermaid lunches.

Mermaid Lunch Box Menu

• ham and cheese sandwich
• shell pasta salad
• chips

We wanted a simple lunch that everyone (or mostly everyone since kids are a little tricky sometimes) would enjoy, that included some healthy options, before our mermaid dessert table.  I made ham and cheese sandwiches on croissants, and I had some condiments of the side for anyone who wanted them.  We also served a pasta salad -with shell pasta because that is definitely what mermaids eat. 😉  There was also a paper bag of potato chips for everyone too.

Everyone having their own little box made it really easy, and then after lunch they could use the empty box to hold all their party favors.  They added their craft, mermaid crowns, water squirters, and candy to the boxes to take home.

Mermaid Dessert Table

After lunch it was time for everyone’s favourite aspect of the party -the Mermaid Dessert Table.  What little girl won’t love their choice of fun mermaid sweet treats.

Mermaid Dessert Table Set Up

We used a card table to set it up our sweet table.  The backdrop is made from some really inexpensive Ikea net curtains that we already had.  We hung the netting from a tree branch above the table.  To add the shells to the curtain we hot glued some little pieces of bendy wire to the back of each shell so we could hook them onto the net curtain and remove it afterward.  It worked great, and the shells looked so pretty hanging in the curtain.

Since it was the beach we kept things pretty simple but totally fun for dessert.

Mermaid Treats

• mermaid cupcakes with chocolate seashells
• blue macaroon cookies
• mermaid chocolate bark

We made some pretty seashell cupcakes.  I think cupcakes are a great alternative to a mermaid cake, since they’re the perfect single serving size for little party guests, and you don’t have to worry about needing to slice a mermaid birthday cake or about needing little mermaid plates and forks.  

The cupcakes were really easy to make and the star of the show.  We topped each one with blue icing and a chocolate shell to fit our sea theme.  I made the chocolate shells with a shell shaped chocolate mold.  To make them we used white chocolate and candy melts in aqua, blue, pink, and purple.   And we added a few “pearl” inspired sprinkles too.

We also made some homemade macaroons with raspberry filling -see our macaroon recipe here.  These adorable cookies were so delicious and making them from scratch meant we could use food coloring to make our mermaid cookies match our party color scheme.

As well we included our mermaid bark.  It was so pretty and so easy to make -find the mermaid bark tutorial here.  It’s a good idea to keep the chocolate as cool as you can before serving.  We kept ours in a cooler until it was time to set up the desserts, and that worked really well.

Sweet Mermaid Food Ideas

We also thought it would be fun to include a whole bunch of mermaid inspired foods.  This is such a fun addition to any mermaid birthday parties.  

Mason jars made it easy to transport and set up this part at the beach.  Small bowls would work great too.  We used chalkboard labels to add mermaid names to all our sweet favorite mermaid party food ideas.  We included some little candy bags on the table so everyone could help themselves and take any extra home with them.  I have to say the girls loved making their own candy loot bags with all their favourites this way, adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  The make your own candy bag was a huge hit and lots of fun for the little party guests.

Mermaid Candy Buffet

Here’s what we included for our sea party food ideas:

• Life rings -peach rings

• Sharks -gummy sharks

• Mermaid Treasure -chocolate coins

• Coral -sugar rock candy

• Pearls -gum balls or white sixlets

• “Sea”cret Wishes -blue cotton candy

• Driftwood -pretzel sticks for a salty snack

and there was also some 

• s’more goldfish crackers, because mermaids and fish.

The Mermaid candy buffet food table was such a hit.  The girls loved it, and loved being able to take some treats home for later too.

Other ideas that would be great to include with your mermaid themed food are:

• blue jello
• Swedish fish
• chocolate mermaid tails
• blue jelly beans

We had so much fun enjoying our Mermaid party food with a picnic and finishing up with our Mermaid Dessert Table.  This was one of the best mermaid parties ever, and I hope the ideas help you have the best party you’ve ever had.  These mermaid food ideas would also be great for a little mermaid movie night.  Add all the mermaid themed snacks to your popcorn for the perfect themed movie night.

With Mermaid Picnic Food, life really is a party!

More Mermaid Ideas

Need some more Mermaid Party inspiration?  Check out our Mermaid Party Activities from yesterday’s post, full mermaid birthday party ideas you’ll love like mermaid outfits, mermaid decor, and activities

 

You might also like our DIY Mermaid Crowns, our DIY mermaid tiara tutorial.

Be sure to check out our Beach Activities post too.